This could be good-2012 Triumph Trophy

[dduelin]

yes, but the bulk of those are 125cc singles !


I did ride a Triumph Triple, namely the mid-2000's RS model and it was very torquey, and much more fun than the poor little K75 that I rode just before it ! .... what a difference ... the poor little K75 felt like a tractor in comparison

Yes they may be but in the USA several years ago Honda sold 335,000 motorcycles and none were 125 cc singles. Triumph sold a tenth of that globally.

 

[Sabre]

Back on the topic of Triumph reliability, Motorcycle Consumer News (11/2011) lists two recalls for the Tiger 800 and 800XC, one for engine management software (Triumph dealer will download new software) and return spring for the optional center stand (dealer will replace the spring and make any needed repairs). First Triumph recalls I've seen in a year, which is how long I've been looking in MCN every month since the Honda rep told me they were so reliable. For whatever that's worth.

Ever since the factory burned down and was completely rebuilt from the ground up, Triumph have been manufacturing bikes to the closest tolerances possible on an assembly line. Their tooling is as good as anything anywhere, and their engineering was thoroughly modernized years and years ago. They are well-known for reliability, dependability, and for requiring miniscule amounts of maintenance.

Both my Bonneville and Tiger were two of the smoothest, sweetest, most well-designed and built machines that I've ever ridden. They were at least as reliable as any Japanese machine I've ever known. The Bonnie had one warranty repair, a known fault with the crankcase air-oil separator that Triumph cheerfully paid for in spite of the bike being way out of warranty! The 955i Tiger had a known issue with a fairly weak regulator/rectifier that was easily and inexpensively put right. I'd hold Triumph quality and dependability up against anything. Why on earth do people buy so many BMWs when the nearest dealer is a state away, yet quail at the notion of doing the same with a modern English machine?

The ST is a fine, fine machine, and I enjoy it and appreciate it for what it is.

And I miss the bejeepers out of my Triumph triple. Talk about a machine with soul! I'm dying to see the new Trophy.

 

[tgreenwald]

I have owned a new Thunderbird for a year now . Just from being on the Thunderbird forums where you hear of everything that breaks there has been very few major problems. The issues have been with a few leaky hose clamps, a few hard starting issues and that the Metzler tires on the back only last 5-10,000 miles. The ECU of the 'Bird is acessable to the owner via a $20 cable and a free program called Tune-ecu. This allows finding faults on your own or changing tunes. In case anyone is interested in an inside view of the new factory in England there is a well made TV show, from Speed Channel, Speed Makers that has a 45 minute commercial for Triumph and how the bikes are built. http://www.hulu.com/watch/238956/speedmakers-triumph-motorcycles. I saw this show after buying the bike and it set my mind at ease. I have had zero issues save one recall I fixed myself. The hidden hex head bolt that holds on the front fender was not put on with red Locktite and had the possiblity of backing out and scoring the tire. It was a quick fix for me.

As for a light weight sport Touring bike-I sure wish I could handle the weight of an ST 1300.(or perhaps a Concours 1400) After dropping my Pacific Coast way too many times I got scared of the ST and got a Shadow instead.

If the Trohpy is light enough for me to handle then count me in and I will trade the Thunderbird and would not fear owning a new species of bike from Triumph. If the Trophy is anything like the Tbird it will be very reliable. Seat height will be critical for "us" "older" riders. If I can flat foot a bike I can handle it safely. My Tbird SE loaded is at least 1000 lbs with a pillion and full bags and it's very easy for me with a good does of arthritis and a replaced hip.

I think that the chrome and wheels of the Triumph is not up to my 2 Honds but very good. I find that I have to work extra hard to keep the chrome from going green and the aluminum wheels from corroding but I do live near salt water. But the build quality from the frame up is very impressive. For a massive cruiser the Thunderbird handles quite nicely on corners. The paint and finish on the Thunderbird is as good as any other bike. Just wish the wheels had come powder coated. Mine are in good shape but many other are having issues.

I have had some warranty issues with saggy leather Saddlebags and they were quickly replaced by the factory with a smile. There have been fork corrossion issues on earlier bikes and the fix was to give the owners a chrome fork covers. In all Thunderbird owners seem to be a happy bunch of owners which is good for a brand new bike.


I started lurking on this forum prior to my intended purchase of the ST and due to the huge amount of information here stuck around. You would never learn about Motoport or Aerostitch on a cruisers forum.

Let's hope the Trophy is as good as I hope for.

From the STWannaBE,

Capt T (bird)

One does not get to old to ride
One grows old because they stop riding

 

[bigdoug]

I have a rocket and put 22,000 miles on it in two years, I visited the no2 factory in Hinckley just in the summer. I work in heavy engineering but was still very impressed by the factory production lines. my rocket was out of warranty when a small spring broke inside the gearbox and Triumph repaired the bike at no cost to me. I called the factory and spoke to a bloke in the warranty dept as I was worried the gearbox might have been damaged and he said not to worry as long as I had a full dealer service history they would fix any problems that came up with my bike.(service intervals are 10,000 miles)
I had a lone of an 800XC for a few days and can honestly say it was a fantastic bike and I will be getting a test drive on the new adventurer as soon as its in the dealers.

 

[EASt]

It was the Trophy 900 that my buddy had (two of them, actually), which got me into sport-touring motorcycles, even though I eventually settled on the ST.

I wouldn't hesitate a second to own a Triumph - I'm hard pressed to think of a single Triumph motorcycle I haven't lusted after.

Between my friend on his Trophy and me on my ST, our experiences with various maintenance issues are virtually parallel. We both spend about the same time noodling similar issues. However, the main difference is turn-around: I can get my parts, get the repairs, and get on the road in a day or two. For him, it's typically a week or more for his parts.

I'm getting to an age where such rapid turn-around doesn't bother me much any more - I'd rather ride what I want to ride.

Bottom line: at my next motorcycle show, I will spend my time at the Triumph booths, and won't even drift over to Honda.

 

[Mellow]

Some folks on the Super Tenere forum have reported the 1200 Trophy is quite top-heavy compared to the Tenere. I don't know how much of that is owner-biased opinions but something to pay attention to if you're looking at all the big adventure bikes. Everyone that sits on my Tenere mentions how light it feels. I almost bought an 800XC before the Tenere but the price was too high and the bike itself was just a bit too tall for me but from the little time I sat on one, the weight of the 800 felt like the Tenere.

P.S. Some of my comments are probably owner-biased.. LOL.. I did love the sound of the 800 and the 1200 will be a beast that's for certain.

 

[Mick]

After dropping my Pacific Coast way too many times I got scared of the ST and got a Shadow instead.

If the Trohpy is light enough for me to handle then count me in

Unfortunately weight becomes an issue as we approach geezerhood and upper body strength begins to go. That was certainly my case. After having owned multiple ST's over a span of 11 years, I opted to go to a lighter bike. It will never be the all-weather, transcontinental mile muncher that my STs were but it will do the job.

As to Triumphs, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one. I did a good bit of research on Triumphs a while back and found that they are now pretty reliable (quite a change from the Triumphs I owned back in the 60's).

I had a serious case of the hots for a Triumph Sprint GT but when they finally hit the showroom floor, I sat on one and found that I could not completely flat-foot the bike (it was very close). I might have been able to find a seat for it that was lowered just a tad but when I saw my current bike (a leftover '09 Suzuki Bandit) on the showroom floor at an incredible fire sale price, I jumped on it instead. Maybe one day There will be a new Triumph in my garage but just not anytime real soon.

 

[Mick]

I'd own another one, for around town use, in a heartbeat. I'd not own one for a bike I planned on riding across the country on. Scarce dealerships, extremely limited part stock, and slow shipping for replacement parts doesn't really work well when you break down 1500 miles from home.

I became quickly educated on Triumph parts with my Triumph a few years back.

Something to seriously consider and a very valid point that I was aware of early on. I STILL wanted a GT though. Let's just say my heart was overloading my brain when I was looking at them! I'm normally a function over form guy but I guess the memories of me blasting down the road on my Triumphs in 1964 & 65 had me in nostalgia mode big time.

 

[Brian Robinson]

Has anyone been interested in the new for 2012 Triumph Trophy?, looks like a great package. Not a great amount of reading or road tests yet but with the Shaft drive and that 3cyl 1200cc engine it seems worth a test ride when it is in the showrooms. I have had 2 of the old 900cc triples and they performed realy well apart from the chain drive which nowadays is outdated for a good touring bike.

Replying to my own post here, well just been thinking [dangerous for me!] and i'll throw a question out to the posters. Why would a manufacturer like Triumph for instance with this new model change thier old habbits of chain drive [exepting the 2.300cc model] and re tool for producing shaft drive, instead of continuing to use chain drive but make the chain totally enclosed working within its own enclosure. I do know from experience that a chain delivers power better and if kept clean and lubricated the wear is so minimal it requires very little adjustment. The modern bike chains are so efficient, so why not have them totally enclosed?.

 

[Bones]

Regarding an enclosed chain, Triumph's Tiger 1200 is shaft-driven so there seems little point in using a chain on a bike sharing the platform, especially a sport tourer. With the Trophy, I expect Triumph wants to take sales away from the other sport touring manufacturers and they pretty much all make shafties.

I have one bike with a shaft and another with a chain. The chain isn't much more work, but it is more work. One less thing to deal with on a long trip is good. My $.02

 

[Brian Robinson]

Thanks for your comments, I must admit i do like chain drive, why manufacturers havn't made them more "user friendly" baffles me. Its not beyond the capabilities of any of the Major bike manufacturers to totally enclose a chain final drive and incoperate the wheel hub ect as part of the rear suspension with a QD wheel removal.

Back in the 70's when i used to do a lot of Green Lane rideing i had a XL500 Honda and my riding buddy bought a East German MZ 250cc 2T ISDT replica. We used to tease him and call it a "rabbit Gasser" as it ran with a blue haze behind it but it had a totally enclosed rear chain drive. At rest stops ect we were out with the spray greese and WD40 on our chains, then after the day's ride and back home , remove the chain, clean it, cook it in the black graphite greese, ect,ect. The only time he looked at his chain was when he needed a new rear tire, no wonder that bike won many international off road events, and he never had any problems with the rest of the bike. As he used to say when we teased him, all i have to do when i get home is to wash it.

 

[Bones]

Most modern bikes with a chain are performance oriented, so perhaps no enclosure is a function of weight savings? Modern chains are sealed so perhaps the idea of an enclosure seems redundant.

For a sport tourer, a belt would seem to make a lot of sense...no maintenance, light weight. BMW uses a belt on a sport tourer (F800ST) and HD and Victory use belts, too.

 

[nhdiesel]

I, for one, will never buy another chain-drive bike again. Its the reason I chose the ST over a DL1000. On my last big ride on my KLR, the relatively new chain (high quality O-ring, properly lubed & adjusted...aprox. 2k miles on it) decided to grenade at aprox. 80 mph in Virginia. When i say grenade, I don't mean cleanly break and spit out on the road like most breaks. This one wrapped itself around the rear hub and flung the free end like a whip at 80 mph. The resulting carnage consisted of almost 3 hours downtime sourcing a replacement, $1500+ in total damage including gouged engine case, swingarm, shredded airbox, rim & rear hub, and pannier rack. I'm just glad the wheel didn't lock up with the truck that was right behind me!

Chains are archaic and outdated. There is no need for them on most adventure bikes, with the long travel shafts are capable of, and they are MUCH more reliable than chains (yes, even BMWs).

I realize chain problems aren't common, but shaft problems are even less common. My wife is in the market for a bike, and after seeing the damage to my KLR, she won't even consider a chain drive bike. The DL650 was a possible candidate, but the chain drive kills it.

Is my fear irrational? Yes, possibly. But being the one sitting on the side of the highway pulling broken pieces off my bike, thankful I didn't end up as road pizza, I think I'm entitled to be a little irrational.

 

[fundyrider]

I've owned my Trophy 1200 for 5 years, no issues to date other than regular maintainence. Dealer network is weak, there was only 1 dealer in the maritime provinces when I bought it and it was in NS, now there is another in NB. It is an uneasy feeling while touring that if you have a breakdown, it's doubtful you will find a dealer nearby. That was on my mind when touring NFLD, not a single dealership on the rock to my knowledge.
Yet, I'd buy the new Trophy without hesitation, love my Triumph, plus, if I bought another brand of motorcycle I'd have to buy a new hat

 

[Coucours Grad]

I, for one, will never buy another chain-drive bike again. Its the reason I chose the ST over a DL1000. On my last big ride on my KLR, the relatively new chain (high quality O-ring, properly lubed & adjusted...aprox. 2k miles on it) decided to grenade at aprox. 80 mph in Virginia. When i say grenade, I don't mean cleanly break and spit out on the road like most breaks. This one wrapped itself around the rear hub and flung the free end like a whip at 80 mph. The resulting carnage consisted of almost 3 hours downtime sourcing a replacement, $1500+ in total damage including gouged engine case, swingarm, shredded airbox, rim & rear hub, and pannier rack. I'm just glad the wheel didn't lock up with the truck that was right behind me!

Chains are archaic and outdated. There is no need for them on most adventure bikes, with the long travel shafts are capable of, and they are MUCH more reliable than chains (yes, even BMWs).

I realize chain problems aren't common, but shaft problems are even less common. My wife is in the market for a bike, and after seeing the damage to my KLR, she won't even consider a chain drive bike. The DL650 was a possible candidate, but the chain drive kills it.

Is my fear irrational? Yes, possibly. But being the one sitting on the side of the highway pulling broken pieces off my bike, thankful I didn't end up as road pizza, I think I'm entitled to be a little irrational.

+1


Shaft driven, water cooled and multi cylinder is my short list. All others need not apply. All of the bikes that I have owned that did not meet that list left me stranded. The 2 that do never have.


Why buy trouble?

 

[Neducati]

There was a brief update and one photo posted today on MCN (MotorcyleNews.com):

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/New-bikes/2012/February/feb2312-2013-triumph-trophy-spied-in-finished-form/